May 22 Thursday El Cubo de la Tierra del Vino to Villanueva de CampeánShort Trip To Strange Place

May 22 Thursday El Cubo de la Tierra del Vino to Villanueva de Campeán

Short Trip To Strange Place

Last night was cozy. It turns out there were seven Spanish guys on bikes. Three in the room I was in, two in the room next to mine, and two slept on beds the owners set up in the living room. I thought there were more than five in the shower kerfuffle. Then a gal from Holland came late and the owner said they were full. He called the other hostal and they were full too. I asked about the Municipal hostal and he said it has closed. That seems to be happening a lot along this route. Anyway, he had a bunk bed in an outbuilding and she slept there. I asked her this morning if it was comfortable and she said it was fine. We had breakfast together and then we left. The bikers had declined breakfast and left earlier. Wise choice on their part. I paid three euros for cold café and white bread toast. 

Somehow I knew when I woke up, that I was going to walk today. I must have known because I got up and started packing my bag to walk. Before the bikers left the guy in the bed next to me asked if I was tired, did I sleep well, or did he bother me. I said, "No, why?"  He said his friends said he snored. They were both laughing and teasing him. I told him I had slept soundly and didn't hear any snoring. We all wished each other a Buen Camino. 

Well, the choice today was to walk eight and a half miles or twenty miles. Though with my knee the way it is I thought eight was a good choice. Plus there was supposed to be rain and lightning. I'm happy to report there was neither. Just lots of cloud cover and a few sprinkles. It was a blustery day as Pooh would say, cold and windy. A great day for a walk. And a beautiful place to walk in. It did get muddy later on the journey, but it wasn't too bad. On some of the downhills, there were big drop offs in the road and the mud was slippery. I'd go to push myself up or out to jump a crevice and my push foot would slip. I had visions of me doing the splits and being unable to move. 

I didn't see another pilgrim the whole day. In fact, I only saw one other person the whole day, and that was a farmer getting in his tractor. Mr. Burple was tucked in under the rain cover on the pack and slept all day. He did pat me on the back when I accomplished difficult maneuvers. This is easy to do because he rides in my pack which is on my back. Or maybe he was just scratching my back. 

I didn't see anyone in Villanueva either. It was like a ghost town. The Spanish must go to ground when it rains. Both of the hostals were open, but nobody was in either one. I put my stuff in one of them, which turned out to be the private one, which my guide says was owned by the same people who owned the bar. I thought good since neither hostal had a freezer, if I stayed at the one owned by the people who owned the bar, I could probably get ice for my knee. So the lady came by and said she would be back later and asked me what I wanted for dinner. I thought that was weird, but she said she would be back to get me at seven to go to her house for dinner. 

I thought it was strange, but I thought it was just a new experience. I went to look for the "bar" and found it, but it wasn't a bar. It was a temporary setup being run by the Mayor, whom I met today. She told me the owners of the bar had just closed it without any notice. So she was running this temporary thing as a service. There was no food, just café beer, sodas, etc. I asked if there was a tienda nope, no tienda. Luckily I had some cheese, pepperoni, apple and peanut butter in my pack. So I had a café at the Temp Place and went back to the hostal. Mr. Burple and I had a make do lunch. After lunch, I went out to see this huge old abandoned building and to take some pictures. Then I went back to the Temp Place. When I got back to the albergue, it was still empty, it was dark even with the lights on, and it was cold as outside. So I went over to the Municipal and there were two pilgrims there, the place was really light even with the lights off, and they had two heaters. I decided to move there. I called the lady from the other albergue and told her I was moving. I thought she said not to worry about it. But she showed up at the Municipal and demanded I pay for her  albergue. I told I didn't stay there, didn't take a shower there or anything. She insisted I pay her. I told her to call the Police because I wasn't going to pay. 

So I am all comfy in the Municipal and now I think it is time to sleep.